


Sundays are for Lovers

by oscarwildewannabe



Category: Schitt's Creek
Genre: Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Sunday Cuddles and Baseball, two boys in love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-16
Updated: 2019-06-16
Packaged: 2020-05-13 03:07:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,071
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19242580
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/oscarwildewannabe/pseuds/oscarwildewannabe
Summary: Love was a concept that both David and Patrick had thought about individually, now they have to think about what it means in relation to each other.or,The exact moments that they realized that they were in love.





	1. Sunday, July 22nd at 11:36pm

**Author's Note:**

  * For [undersail2013](https://archiveofourown.org/users/undersail2013/gifts).



> So I just wanted to say a real quick thank you to everyone here. Especially to Kelly (Fanfic_or_bust) who beta'd for me and talked me off some ledges here and there, they are both real great and you should for sure check out their stuff. But I also just wanna say thanks to the fandom at large- this exchange is the reason I got into fic writing in the first place and I was so terrified (still am a little tbh- there's so many amazing writers in this fandom is crazy), but y'all have always been incredibly kind and welcoming. So thanks! Anyway, hope you enjoy.

_David realized that he was in love with Patrick on Sunday, July 22nd at 11:36 pm._

____

Contrary to what Alexis and Stevie might tell people, David knew that he was in love with Patrick well before the events of singles week. The way he had reacted to Patrick’s declaration might have not shown this, but it was true. At the time it had been more about the influx of emotions that David had been feeling; his fears and anxieties clouding out the love he obviously felt for Patrick. But he did know that it was love that he felt in return. He had just been scared to admit it to anyone other than himself. 

He remembered the moment exactly when he realized he was in love with Patrick. Down to the fucking minute. 

It was a Sunday. Sundays were normally David’s favorite day of the week. The store was closed, on Sundays which meant he got to sleep in and, if he was lucky, spend the entire day in bed. (And he was even luckier if he got to spend the entire day in bed with Patrick.) On this particular Sunday, however, this had not been the case. 

Alexis had woken him up at the ass-crack of dawn to helpher re-organize her closet. He didn’t really remember actually promising to help her with that and he was just going to ignore her and let it go, but then she started to put her Zara jumpers in the closet next to her Chanel scarves and David just couldn’t allow that kind of crime against humanity to continue under the roof where he lived. 

Which is how he found himself here, standing on the doorstep at Ray’s just about ready to start knocking on the door with his head rather than his hand because he had texted Patrick _six times _now and he still hadn’t answered. Ray was out of town for some sort of business thing (David had kind of stopped listening after Patrick told him that he would have the house to himself on Sunday, he didn’t really care about the reason why.), and Patrick was supposed to be here to open the door and kiss David hello so that they could make out on Ray’s couch like civilized human beings.__

____

But no. He was just standing here, waiting for Patrick to open the door. Even though he had texted him six times! They were really going to have to have a conversation about Patrick’s texting etiquette. When your boyfriend says “I'm outside,” you don’t just meander your way downstairs at your own leisurely pace, you open the goddamn door. 

Normally, David wouldn’t have been too excessively whiny about the situation. It’s just that he hadn’t seen Patrick in like 28 hours and he kinda sorta missed him? It was an odd feeling for David. One that sat uneasily in the pit of his stomach. He wasn’t used to missing people like this. Not really. Sure, he had missed his parents when he was a little kid or even Alexis when they were both younger but this was different. It felt different. David didn’t like it. It made him feel kinda sweaty and anxious. 

He thought about just bailing altogether. Maybe he was just getting sick? But then the door in front of him swung open, revealing a smirking Patrick. 

“Hey,” he said, smiling at David, “Sorry. My phone was on silent. I didn’t see your text.”

“Texts,” David corrected him, trying his best to look annoyed.“I texted you six times. I could have been dead or dying out here.” 

Patrick raised an eyebrow at him. “You mean if you were dying you would have spent your last moments texting me about how annoying your sister is instead of, oh I don’t know, calling the police?” 

“Maybe I was identifying my killer,” David said, as he pushed past Patrick into the house. 

Patrick hummed behind him, “She does have the correct motivation for wanting to kill you. Although she doesn’t really strike me as the kind of person who would want to get her hands dirty like that.” 

David turned to him, unceremoniously dropping his bag on the floor next to him with a thud. 

“Okay, as fun as this is I’d rather not talk about my sister right now.” 

Patrick smirked at him. That stupid, charming little smirk that made David want to pull Patrick in by his stupid blue button ups and kiss him senseless. 

“Oh yeah?” Patrick asked, his voice teasing as he closed the distance between the two of them, wrapping his arms around David’s waist in the process. “Why not? Was there something in particular that you wanted to...discuss?” 

David hummed, nodding his head up and down. 

“Yes, your phone etiquette is terrible and it needs to be addressed.” 

Patrick pulled back from him slightly and raised an eyebrow, “ _My _phone etiquette is terrible? I’m sorry, who was the one that left 15 messages while high on their business consultant’s voicemail?”__

____

____

David tried not to cringe at the memory.

“Okay,” he said, “it was hardly _15 _messages. And that is not the point. The point is that you shouldn’t leave your phone on silent.”__

____

____

“Oh,” Patrick said, fighting a smile, “Okay then.” 

He reached into his back pocket and pulled out his phone, hitting the screen so that his lock screen (a candid black and white photo of the two of them, the sight of which made David blush a little), so that David could see the ringer switched to on as Patrick flipped the switch on the side of his phone. 

“Better?” he asked, tucking the phone back into his pocket.

“Yes,” David said, “It’s really not that hard. I really don’t think I’m asking for too much…” 

He trailed off, his smile at Patrick’s face breaking his concentration on the bit. Patrick had rewound his hands around David’s waist and was pulling him in flush against his chest. David draped both of his arms around Patrick’s neck. Patrick leaned into him and pressed his lips against David’s softly. It was a nice kiss. A soft, welcoming, teasing kiss. The kind of kiss that David hadn’t really experienced much of before he met Patrick. Usually kisses were just a precursor to somebody putting their cock somewhere. They were never meant to be anything more than a kind of foreplay, a social lubricant if you will. David kissed his exes because that’s what you were supposed to do. He remembered telling Patrick that their first kiss felt like his first time too. This is what he had meant. He had never really kissed anyone without there being some kind of further intent. But he liked it. He liked the way that Patrick kissed him, soft and warm and full of respect. That, for sure, was something he had never had before in any of his other partners. 

David felt Patrick slide his hands down to the hem of David’s sweater until they rested on his hips, Patrick’s fingers gripping against the waistband of his jeans. Carefully, Patrick pressed him backwards, until the backs of David’s knees collided with the couch. David did his best to climb onto the couch without breaking their kiss. He shifted so that he could grab onto the lapels of Patrick’s button up ( _God _, even on his days off he still wore those stupid blue button ups.), pulling Patrick down on top of him. David arched his back against the back of the couch, Patrick hovering above him. He was in a semi-standing position, with one leg bent up against David’s thigh on the cushion, while the other was slotted inbetween David’s open legs. He had one arm braced against the back of the couch by David’s head to hold him steady, while the other was roaming up and down David’s chest.__

____

____

David closed his eyes, allowing himself to be taken over by the pleasure of Patrick’s lips on his, of feeling Patrick’s fingers splayed across his chest, his own hands gripping at Patrick’s hips, wondering if he moved his hands a little further down if he would be able to feel Patrick’s big, throbbing--

_Ding. ___

____

____

David pulled away from the kiss abruptly, startled by the sudden noise. 

_Ding. Ding. ___

____

____

It took him a moment to recognize the sound as texts coming through on a phone. 

_Ding, ding, ding._

____

____

Patrick looked at him sheepishly as he pulled his phone out his back pocket. Right, David reminded himself, he’d turned the ringer on for the stupid bit earlier. 

“Everything alright?” he asked.

Patrick nodded, as he scrolled through the messages, his phone continuing to ping with new ones. 

“Yeah,” he said absentmindedly, as he moved to sit next to David on the couch. “It’s a groupchat of my friends back home. They want me to turn on the game.” 

“The game?” David asked

Patrick smirked at him, “Baseball. My team is playing tonight. Apparently it’s crazy.”

David peered over Patrick’s shoulder to look at the messages that were still flooding in. Someone named Matt was communicating in what seemed to be a sort of new morse code comprised totally of numbers and expletives. Another person, Jake, was just repeating Patrick’s name in all caps. But it was one message at the bottom from someone named Alec that caught David’s eye. 

“‘Patrick, oh my god,’” he read aloud, with a forced enthusiasm. “‘This game is insane. What could you possibly be doing that is more important than baseball?’” 

He smirked at Patrick, raising an eyebrow and shimmying his shoulders suggestively. 

Patrick just rolled his eyes. “Don’t say you.” 

David bit down a smile as Patrick continued to scroll through his incoming messages. He watched as Patrick’s eyes flickered up to the TV in front of them and then back down to his phone. David held in a sigh. 

“Do you...um, want to turn on the game?” He tried to keep his face looking neutral, but he obviously hadn’t done that great of a job considering the look on Patrick’s face. 

“No, David, it’s alright,” he said, setting his phone down next to him, “I know you don’t like sports.” 

“It’s not that I don’t like sports,” David said cautiously, “I just think that given today’s political climate, there’s no need to further divide ourselves.” 

Patrick smiled at him, huffing out a half chuckle, “Right.” 

“So….” David said slyly, reaching forward to settle his hands on Patrick’s chest, “where were we?”

Patrick smiled and leaned into David. David leaned forward so that Patrick was sitting with his back fully against the back of the couch. Moving slowly, deliberately, he shifted so that he was moving into Patrick’s lap, pressing wet, warm kisses along his boyfriend’s jaw and down his neck. He heard Patrick let out a little gasp as David shifted so that he was fully straddling him, he felt Patrick’s hands move from his arms down his body to grip onto his the outside of his thighs. David moved to nibble at the spot just behind Patrick’s ear that always made him make the most delectable little sound, the same sound that he always made whenever David was kneeling in front of him, face pressed into his inner thighs, tongue wrapped around his--

_Ding. ___

____

____

Motherfucker. 

David pulled away and glared at the offending object. 

“Just ignore it,” Patrick murmured, guiding David’s face back towards him by gently putting his thumb and forefinger on his chin. David leaned back into the kiss, trying to ignore the continuing ping of Patrick’s phone. Patrick seemed to be having a similarly hard time keeping his focus, as his kisses slowed on David’s skin, and they seemed slightly more distracted. David opened his eyes to see that Patrick too had his open, and was trying to glance at his phone screen between pressing half-hearted kisses to David’s jaw. 

“Okay,” David said, pulling away and placing both his hands on Patrick’s chest, “If this is how the rest of the night’s gonna be, I think you should just turn on the game now.” 

“What?” Patrick asked, looking slightly dazed, “I’m sorry. I’ll turn it off, I was just...distracted.” 

David hummed and nodded, “And you’re gonna be distracted all night if you don’t turn it on. Which is really too bad, because what I had planned for us requires your full attention.”  
David watched Patrick gulp, and for a minute he thought maybe he could persuade him that the baseball could wait, but then his stupid phone fucking dinged again and David knew he’d lost him. He bit down a smile at the ridiculous, distracted look on Patrick’s face. He looked like a little kid caught with his hand in a cookie jar, knowingly doing something that he knew he wasn’t supposed to, and yet here he was. 

David shifted so that he was sitting leaned up against Patrick instead of straddling him. 

“Are you sure?” he asked, looking at David hesitantly. 

David just shrugged, “It’s fine,” he said, and then added in a low voice, “Just be sure to remember how thoughtful, and, uh, _generous _I’m being right now. You know. For later.”__

____

____

Patrick smiled and him and nodded, “Oh, of course. Because that’s usually something generous people do. Ask to be rewarded for their generosity.” 

“Okay,” David said indignantly, ready to fully defend himself, but Patrick was smiling at him and holding back laughter as he flipped through the channels on the TV, trying to find the right one and David couldn’t help but smile back. 

Which was... weird. He hadn’t even really thought about his offer to delay sex for a baseball game while he was giving it. But now, it felt... strange. He had come over here tonight with the sole purpose of completely defiling his wholesome button up wearing boyfriend in every single consensually dirty way that he could imagine. Instead, he was sitting on Ray’s couch, watching baseball. And he wasn’t upset about it. That was the weirdest part. He didn’t feel bad about it at all, because Patrick was so happy about it. 

“So Alec was saying that this is team is coming close to pitching a perfect inning, which is crazy,” Patrick said to him.

David hummed, not really sure how to respond to that. 

“A perfect inning means that nobody gets on the bases,” Patrick explained, pointing at the screen. “The white things on the ground,” 

David squinted at the field displayed on the screen. Sure enough there where four white marks on the outside of the field, which was shaped more or less like a diamond. He vaguely remembered people talking about bases and runs from his days in Little League, but he had stopped paying attention to whatever his coach had been saying to him at the time because Kaden Watkins had chosen that specific moment to throw a ball right at the back of David’s head. After that, most of what David knew of baseball served more as a metaphor for sex, something he was far better at (and was arguably far more fun) than standing in a field letting people throw hard chunks of rubber at him.  
“Sorry,” Patrick said suddenly, pulling David out of the more cursed memories of his days on a Little League team, “I know you don’t care about this. And it’s really nice of you to let me turn on the game. You can just go home if you want, I can pick you up after the game ends.” 

For a second David thought about it; he really didn’t want to spend his whole evening watching baseball. But he did want to spend the rest of his evening with Patrick. He had missed him. Besides, going back to the motel would mean going back to his room with Alexis and his parents. Sitting here with Patrick, curled up against one another, even if it was while watching baseball, was far better than spending any more time with his family. 

“No, no, it’s alright.” David said, his voice coming out suddenly softer, “I’ll stay. If that’s alright. You can even explain the game. You know. If that’s something that you want to do.” 

And then Patrick’s eyes lit up and David felt like his heart was turning to mush. Patrick leaned further into David and pressed two quick kisses to his temple, before wrapping an arm around his shoulders and settling David next to him. 

They spent the next several hours like this, David curled into Patrick’s side as Patrick excitedly explained the so-called action unfolding on the screen. Occasionally David would interject with a question or a judgement about a certain player’s hair style and Patrick would laugh and kiss him sweetly. He would also tell David stories from when he was younger, from college and high school when he played on his school’s teams, and even before that when he would play catch with his dad and have to use a tee to hit the ball. David found himself liking these parts the best. He loved the idea of a little baby Patrick carrying a bat bigger than himself around his backyard, chasing his dad around with it. The same mischievous little look in his eyes that he got when he teased David. 

He liked that about Patrick. He liked seeing that little look in his eyes when he teased David. He liked the way he smiled when he kissed him, he liked the way he said his name, the way he knew David’s complicated coffee order at the cafe. He even so much as--

Oh. _Oh._

____

____

Oh shit. 

He loved it. David loved all those things about Patrick. He loved Patrick. 

Oh _shit._

____

____

The realization knocked the wind out of David, hitting him like a ton of bricks. Or like he had been the one hit in the stomach with a baseball and not Patrick (a story that had made him laugh only moments before). He didn’t know how he missed it. Surely there had been signs? 

He glanced around at his surroundings. Nothing around him seemed different. Not even Patrick. He was just sitting there, talking about batting averages or something equally boring and he had no idea that David was having an actual stroke while he sat there watching stupid baseball. 

Oh right. Baseball. That should have been his number one clue. David Rose was sitting here on a Sunday night at 11:36 pm, watching baseball. He didn’t even like baseball. And yet, here he was. Never in his life would he have allowed the person he was dating to pull him into something that he didn’t want to do. David might have been a bit of pushover, but he still had standards. Hell, three years ago he wouldn’t have even Ubered to Brooklyn for sex with Matt Bomer. And that was for _sex _. With _Matt Bomer _. But that was also three years ago. Before Schitt’s Creek. Before he had to live in a motel room where his sister was always just a few feet away, instead of halfway around the world.,. It was before he had his store, when a hard day’s work was flying to SoCal on his family’s private jet for lunch with an artist.____

_____ _

_____ _

It was before Patrick. 

Patrick and his stupid blue button ups and his soft, teasing smile and clean, neat, totally not sloppy mouth. Patrick who was nice to him, and kind to him, and respected him, and gave up things for David all the time. He would have completely skipped watching this game tonight for David, without even giving it a second thought. Something that clearly made him so happy, he would have given up. For David. That idea confounded him. No one he had ever used to fuck, let alone dated, would have done that for him. 

David chanced a glance at Patrick. He had that delighted, happy, content look on his face that made David’s heart turn to mush. David would have let Patrick drag him to a thousand baseball games (with only minimal complaining) if only he could get to see the way that Patrick’s face lit up as it was right now. 

And that’s what love was, right? That’s what it was supposed to be. It’s what his parents did for each other, and after that horrible incident in the motel 2 years ago, David was keenly aware of how much they loved each other. This was the kind of thing that the people in _Notting Hill _and _Jerry Maguire _and _Downton Abbey _talked about when they talked about love. Give and take. Respect and admiration. Never having to say you’re sorry. Well, maybe not that last one, but surely all the others?______

_____ _

_____ _

“Hey, you alright?” 

David was pulled from his reverie by Patrick looking at him quizzically. David realized he must have been staring, or had completely zoned out when Patrick had been talking to him and gave himself away as no longer paying attention. He blinked a few times, as if by doing so he would be able to erase the last minute of his life, and go back to a time before emotions and feelings had complicated his judgement. 

He looked over at Patrick. Beautiful, sweet, amazing, brilliant Patrick. David could feel the words sitting there, right on the edge of tongue, barley being held back behind his lips. He could say it. Let him know. Tell him. Declare it. 

But he didn’t. 

It was too much. Too fast. He was scared. Scared that Patrick wouldn’t say it back. Scared that it would change things. David liked the happy little bubble that they lived in right now. He was afraid that by uttering those three, dangerous little words, that he would burst it. That things would change beyond what he was ready for. Beyond what he was capable of, that Patrick would suddenly need things from David that he couldn’t possibly provide. That he would lose him. 

The thought made him feel sick to his stomach. David had only just realized that he what he was holding onto so tightly was, in fact, love. There was no way he was going to let it go so soon, not when he had just gotten it. Not when it made him so incredibly happy. 

“Nothing,” he said finally, his voice coming out as no more than a whisper. “Just tired.” 

He patted Patrick’s thigh and made to stand up. “Think I’m gonna go on up to bed.” 

“Alright,” Patrick said, and then suddenly he reached out and caught David’s hand in his. “I’ll join you. The guys’ll tell me how it ends.” 

David shook his head. “No, no. You should stay if you want.” 

Patrick’s lips quirked up into a smile. “Well, what I really want to do is thank my boyfriend for being so nice tonight by letting me watch baseball, even though i know that he hates it.” 

David bit back a smile, “Well…” he drawled out, “if you were looking for a way to thank me, you know, for being so generous... I’m sure that we could come up with something... appropriate.” 

“Oh really?”

And then Patrick was pulling David down to him, smiling into their kiss. And David was smiling back. And for a moment, a brief, wonderful moment, David envisioned a world where this was how he could end every single day for the rest of his life. Here, with Patrick. Smiling into kisses and teasing and flirting with each other. If there had been any doubt in his mind before, he surely knew now. That this, this right here with Patrick, leaned up against Ray’s ratty old couch, with a baseball game playing in the background, this was a moment of true love. And that the man sharing this moment with him, was the absolute love of his life. And in that brief, wonderful moment, David wasn’t scared. He was exhilarated. He was excited. He was in love.


	2. Sunday, June 17th at 2:33am

_Patrick realized that he was in love with David on June 17th at 2:33 am ___

__Contrary to what Stevie and Alexis might jokingly tell people- Patrick did not realize that he was in love with David until he was already deep into their relationship. It took him months to realize that the feelings that he had towards the other man were, in fact, love. It hadn’t really surprised him;it felt less like a punch in the gut and more like a relaxed sigh. It was as if all the pieces of a puzzle had just come together, and for the first time, Patrick was able to take a step back and see the full picture. It was a soft oh, rather than a large and abrupt surprise._ _

__It happened, if he remembered correctly, after a particularly bad day. He had worked the entire day at the store by himself. David was supposed to come in, but there had been a Rose Family Emergency and Patrick had learned months ago that in those kinds of situations it was best just not to intrude- let the Roses work things out for themselves instead of getting drawn into the chaos of whatever the so-called Emergency was. In this case, that meant letting David off from his duties at the store. In theory, Patrick had thought that this would be okay. Selfishly, he had hoped that this would mean that any Rose Family Antics would be confined to the motel instead of bleeding into their place of business._ _

__But it had been a busy day for foot traffic and customers through the store, meaning that Patrick barely got a break to sit down, let alone have an actual break for lunch, which he ended up skipping. Then when he had gone to the back to do inventory, he discovered that a jar of moisturizer had broken and leaked all over the rest of the jars and the box holding them.. He had to spend a good twenty minutes wiping out the lavender scented cream and picking the broken glass out of the box._ _

__To top it all off, his computer crashed right as he was shutting it down for the day, erasing the hours of meticulous work that he had done in transferring their daily register balances into his spreadsheets._ _

__Normally he wouldn’t have let it pile up in this way, but closing time had become slightly more hurried and less thorough in the past few weeks. David and he had worked themselves into a routine of sweeping up and wiping down the counters together while listening to one of David’s specially curated 90s divas Spotify playlists. Patrick would usually start to do the quote “boring businessy stuff” while David packed away the rest of the items, but in the last few weeks, David had taken to leaning up against the counter in front of him while he tried to do formulas in his head. It was hardly his fault that he forgot what the square root of 16 was if, by chance, David had taken to playing with his free hand while he stood there, tracing lines along his palm and up and down his fingers. It sent shivers down his spine in a way that made it impossible to focus on the math. At which point he would flip the books shut and declare that he would simply do it later before pulling in David to kiss him as David smiled smugly at him._ _

__That all seemed well and good then. Except now it was later and he’d spent hours transferring all of that data and it was just gone. He wished that David were here. That they could go back to their simple routine of teasing and flirting while Patrick reminded David that they were the only ones that worked here, so if David declared that something was just going to have to be “someone else’s problem” that usually just meant that it would be Patrick’s problem._ _

__He had missed David today. Missed the way that he would find simple, silly excuses to bring them close together. He missed going over to the cafe to order his ridiculous coffee order, and missed the small smile that he would receive when he brought it back. He missed the quick kisses on the cheek or pecks on the lips as one of them would pass by the other. But mostly Patrick had just missed being around him. Missed the conversation and the teasing and flirting. Missed the way that his heart fluttered everytime David so much as walked into the room._ _

__So suffice it to say, it had been a pretty Bad Day. Which is why, when he finally dragged himself back to Ray’s, he was less than pleased to see his boyfriend moving around his room, packing up to go out._ _

__Patrick had given David a key to Ray’s about a month ago (with Ray’s full permission and blessing of course), because it had just seemed easier at the time. They usually ended up back here anyway, so it made sense if they were coming from different places for David to have his own way into the house and not be stuck waiting on the porch like some kind of “podunk traveling Bible salesman,” as David put it._ _

__David had texted earlier in the evening to let him know that he was already at Ray’s, so Patrick was temporarily confused as to why it looked like he was just getting ready to leave._ _

__“What are you doing?” he asked from the doorway, by way of greeting._ _

__David turned to him and smiled, coming over to press a quick kiss to his cheek before breezing past him to pluck something off the bedside table and throw it in his bag._ _

__“Hi David, how was your day?” he responded sarcastically, smirking at Patrick over his shoulder._ _

__Normally Patrick would be fine with this kind of light teasing, he would have taken the bait and allowed himself to be drawn into the whirlwind that is dating David Rose. But he was tired, and he could feel his head starting to throb just behind his eyes and he just wanted to feel like he was on solid ground again._ _

__“What are you doing?” he repeated._ _

__David looked over at him, brow slightly furrowed, “I’m going out with Stevie tonight. Remember? I told you about this. She wants me to wingman for her so that she can find a Random.”_ _

__David had in fact told him about this, Patrick had just forgotten. Which wasn’t David’s fault at all. It also wasn’t David’s fault that he couldn’t come in to work today, not really, nor was it his fault that the moisturizer had broken or that the computer had crashed. Which is why Patrick instantly felt guilty as soon as he said what he did next._ _

__“Oh. Well. As long as that’s what you want to do tonight, I guess that’s fine. I’ll just be here by myself all night. Like I was today, too.” There was more bite to his tone than he had really intended there to be, and from the look on David’s face it hadn’t gone unnoticed._ _

__David straightened up from where he was standing, running his ringed hand up and down his arm in what Patrick recognized as self-soothing tick from when David started to feel anxious, and he started to feel guilty._ _

__“I’m sorry,” he said, rubbing one hand across his brow as if somehow that would alleviate the pain that was starting to build there, “I shouldn’t have said that. You did tell me about tonight, I just forgot. It’s been a bad day, I’m sorry I said that.”_ _

__Patrick opened his eyes to look at David who was kind of leaning his head to one side, almost examining him. His face had gone slightly soft and concerned. Not at all the reaction Patrick had been bracing himself for._ _

__“Are you alright?” David asked, taking a few steps forward to the point where he could reach out and run his hands up and down Patrick’s arms, “You don’t look very good.”_ _

__Patrick just sighed and nodded, “I’m alright. My head is just killing me.”_ _

__David nodded, bringing his hands up to cup Patrick’s face and leaned him forward to press a kiss to his forehead. It was such a sweet and forgiving action that it made Patrick just feel worse for how he had snapped at David earlier._ _

__“I’m sorry,” he repeated._ _

__David shook his head, still holding Patrick’s face between his hands, running his thumbs across his cheekbones._ _

__“It’s alright. _I’m _sorry you had such a rough day. Sorry I wasn’t there.”___ _

____On that last part he gave a little wince, and Patrick gave him a half smile; well, at least he was self-aware._ _ _ _

____“It’s okay,” Patrick said, trying to reassure him, bringing his own hands up to rest on David’s forearms, “I’m just tired.”_ _ _ _

____“Are you sure it’s okay for me to go out with Stevie tonight?” David asked._ _ _ _

____Patrick nodded.“Of course. I don’t want you to have to give up going out with her tonight. I know that you two will have fun.”_ _ _ _

____David looked at him, unsure. “Really? Because if you want I can stay here…? We can order takeout. Not from the Cafe but from one of the half decent places in Elmdale. I won’t even make you drive to go get it.”_ _ _ _

____Patrick huffed out a laugh at that, and pulled away from David as he went to sit on the edge of his bed._ _ _ _

____“David, seriously, it’s okay. Go out with Stevie. Have fun, be safe, don’t drink too much.”_ _ _ _

____“Okay well, I don’t really think that all three of those can necessarily happen at the same time, but…” he trailed off, giving Patrick one last glance over, as if he thought he would suddenly change his mind and forbid David from leaving the room._ _ _ _

____“Tell you what,” David said, coming over so that he was standing above Patrick, slotting his legs between Patrick thighs, resting his hands in their usual perch on Patrick’s shoulders, “How about instead of going back to the motel after the bar, I come back here? And then we can sleep in and you can make us coffee to drink in bed. I’d offer, but you know I don’t cook. Then you can complain about your bad day and watch your baseball tournament and _I _, being the very caring and supportive boyfriend that I am, will do my best to pretend I know what’s going on.”___ _ _ _

______David smiled at him, that sweet, unguarded smile that always made Patrick’s stomach flip. He liked knowing he was one of the only few people who ever got to see that smile on David. He liked that it was so often directed at him._ _ _ _ _ _

______“Yeah. I’d like that.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______“Good.” David leaned down and pressed a sweet kiss to his lips before stepping back to grab his bag, “I’ll be back late. Or possibly early. Stevie’s game is very inconsistent. Take some advil or something.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______Patrick smiled at David, and nodded._ _ _ _ _ _

______“Thanks,” he said. David bit his lip a little, maybe smiling, maybe holding something more back that he wanted to say; Patrick wasn’t sure._ _ _ _ _ _

______He leaned forward once more and pressed a kiss into Patrick’s hairline before breezing out of the door in very much the same way that he had breezed about the room before._ _ _ _ _ _

______As soon as he heard the front door shut, Patrick let himself fall down on the bed, knees still hanging over the edge. He groaned. He felt awful that David was having to adjust his plans just for him. This isn’t what Patrick wanted to give him; he wanted their relationship to feel safe and worry-free for David in a way that none of his other relationships had. Patrick knew how he constantly worried about Alexis’s safety and well-being, about his parents’ sanity and Stevie’s happiness. Patrick wanted to be the one thing in David’s life that didn’t cause him excess worry or concern. So much for that._ _ _ _ _ _

______Patrick sat up slowly, groaning as he did. The throbbing in his head had only steadily increased and it was starting to make him feel slightly nauseous. Scrubbing his hands over his face, he stood up shakily and went about his nighttime routine despite it still being so early. Right now, all he wanted to do was sleep off this headache and wake up tangled in David’s arms in the morning._ _ _ _ _ _

______He fell into bed, his eyelids feeling heavy and he buried his face in his pillow to try and alleviate some of the pain that he was feeling. He hoped that when he woke up he would feel better; that he could properly make it up to David in the morning._ _ _ _ _ _

______***_ _ _ _ _ _

______He didn’t really remember falling asleep, but he did remember waking up. His heart was pounding and his head felt like it was splitting open. He was drenched in sweat and his breath was coming out in short, shallow gasps. Patrick’s brain felt like it had short circuited, for a moment he couldn’t remember where he was or what was going on. It took him a few seconds to allow the features of the room around him to become familiar again._ _ _ _ _ _

______He had been dreaming; everything had been slipping out of his control. He had been running from something, or maybe falling, Patrick couldn’t remember. He remembered seeing some sort of destruction, chaos, the store’s logo; it chilled him to his core. He remembered David’s face, full of pain and hurt. Anger. It made Patrick feel sick._ _ _ _ _ _

______He was having trouble regaining his breath, he placed a hand over his heart and could feel it beating so fast he was sure it was going to burst right out of his chest._ _ _ _ _ _

______Beside him he felt someone stir. It was David; Patrick hadn’t heard him come back, but there he was. His dark hair lay against the white pillow case in stark contrast. He had one arm up next to his face, where Patrick had been just moments before. Patrick watched as the arm in question reached out into the empty space that Patrick had occupied. At finding nothing there David’s face scrunched up in his sleep. Blinking blearily, he opened his eyes and looked up at Patrick in the dark._ _ _ _ _ _

______“Patrick?” He sat up suddenly, “What’s going on? Who’s here? I don’t want to die this young!”_ _ _ _ _ _

______His voice was raised in panic and Patrick felt guilt settle deep in his stomach. He hadn’t meant to scare David._ _ _ _ _ _

______“It’s nothing,” he said, turning away from the other man slightly, his hand still pressed against his chest, “Go back to sleep. I’m sorry I woke you up.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______Patrick felt the bed shift and dip behind him as David moved closer to him._ _ _ _ _ _

______“Patrick?” he repeated, this time his voice was calmer, softer, “are you alright?”_ _ _ _ _ _

______Patrick managed to nod jerkily, his breathing beginning to even out a little even if he still felt as though he had just run a marathon. It had been a few months since something like this had happened. He used to get stress-related nightmares all the time, but now they were becoming more and more infrequent._ _ _ _ _ _

______“Hey, honey, it’s alright,” David was there next to him, “come here.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______Gently, David pulled the two of them back down into the pillows, Patrick’s head resting just below David’s chin with the other man hugging him slightly from behind._ _ _ _ _ _

______“It was just a bad dream,” Patrick said, trying to defend his actions. He really hadn’t meant to wake David up, not after everything he’d done last night. But it felt so good to be held in David’s arms like this, and he could already feel his heart rate starting to decrease._ _ _ _ _ _

______He felt David nod, “Do you wanna talk about it?”_ _ _ _ _ _

______Patrick just shook his head, “There’s nothing to talk about really.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______He felt David shift a little under him, and Patrick didn’t have to be looking at his face to know that David was giving him a skeptical look._ _ _ _ _ _

______“It was a bad dream,” Patrick repeated, “about the store, about you... about us.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______This last part came out as no more than a whisper. He didn’t want to scare David. He wanted so desperately not to do that._ _ _ _ _ _

______David’s grip on him tightened slightly, and it helped, it made him feel safe. Secure. Less like he was falling now, more grounded. Here in his bed, wrapped up in David’s arms._ _ _ _ _ _

______“Honey, I’m so sorry,” David whispered as he pressed a kiss to the top of Patrick’s head, “but it wasn’t real. The store’s fine, I’m fine. We’re fine.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______Patrick tightened his own grip on David, arms wrapped around his stomach with his head resting against his chest. He could hear David’s own steady heartbeat through the thin material of his shirt. He felt David’s fingers start to run through his hair, softly and without any real pattern or focus._ _ _ _ _ _

______“I’m sorry, David,” he whispered again._ _ _ _ _ _

______“Patrick, please, you have nothing to be sorry for.” David paused, “Except for maybe waking me up at 2:28 in the morning and making me think I was about to be murdered.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______Patrick huffed out a laugh, even though it felt strange to be laughing at the idea of being murdered. David made him laugh, he made him smile._ _ _ _ _ _

______“No seriously,” David continued, an obvious playful lilt to his voice, “I thought we were gonna die. Although, found murdered in bed with his lover is a pretty good headline.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______Patrick really couldn’t help it now and laughed even more, pressing his nose into the material of David’s shirt. For a brief, inexplicable moment he thought of Rachel. Her face full of concern and worry as she sat up in bed looking over at him. He remembered the times before when he would wake up panicked and scared._ _ _ _ _ _

______She had wanted to help, he had wanted her to help, but for whatever reason she couldn’t. She would talk to him, tell him to breathe and rub his back and hold him. Just like David. But it didn’t work. It didn’t hurt, but it also didn’t help. They both felt awful about it, about the situation, about each other’s inability to make it better. It continued to astound Patrick, all the things he thought he could never have, all the things he thought he just wasn't cut out for... He can have them now. With David._ _ _ _ _ _

______Before David he had never known that sex could be so much fun and feel so good. He had never known that such simple things as touches and smiles could feel like high energy volts to the system. And he never knew that the simple act of just being held could feel so safe and secure._ _ _ _ _ _

______And that was it. That was the moment that he realized it. It wasn’t just because David was a man, or because David was the first man he’d ever acknowledged he had feelings for. It was because those feelings that he’d been having, that he was having, were love._ _ _ _ _ _

______He thought he had understood what love was before, but that understanding had been jaded and incomplete. This, here with David, was different. He thought love before had meant hard work and energy and fights and trying days. Now love meant ease and appreciation, respect and feeling safe and secure. Love was David pulling Patrick close to him and holding onto him. Love was David staying awake with him as long as he needed, even though he hated being woken up. Love was David pressing kisses to his hairline, not allowing him to apologize, not allowing him to feel alone or embarrassed._ _ _ _ _ _

______This is what David would do for Alexis, for his mom and dad, for Stevie. What Patrick’s parents would do for him or for each other. It’s what Patrick would do for David. It’s what he had done for David. Because he loved him._ _ _ _ _ _

______He asked his mom once how you were supposed to know that you were in love. His mother had just smiled and told him that it wasn’t a science or anything. There wouldn’t be big, flashing signs or things he could check off of a list. It was just a feeling. Something he would know. At the time her vagueness had frustrated him;he wanted the signs, wanted things that he could check off of a list. But now he understood. He got it. He _fel _t it, without a trace of doubt.___ _ _ _ _ _

________It’s a fleeting moment of sureness he’s only experienced a handful of times in his life. He recognized it from when he decided to invest in David’s business. He recognized it now, in his bed at 2:32 am. (And sometime in the future, he’ll recognize it while he watches David lovingly apply hand sanitizer to Patrick’s foot)._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________They fell asleep like that, all tangled up together, a mess of limbs and sheets. When Patrick woke up several hours later, his head was still pressed to David’s chest; sometime in the night the two of them had turned inward to face each other, so David’s face was mere inches from Patrick’s own. David had one arm wrapped protectively around Patrick, making his stomach twist in a silly kind of way._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Patrick took a moment to look at David, simply admire him. Even after such a rough night it made Patrick smile a little to think that he will always be awake before David. But he liked that, _loved _that. It meant he got to see him in these quiet moments that belong just to them. David looked so peaceful and calm when he’s sleeping. None of the dramatics or the worry or the anxiety that build up his every day persona. His dark lashes fluttered against his cheeks, and his equally dark hair was sticking up in crazy directions. It was really soft without all the product in it, and being able to run his fingers through it in these early morning hours is one of Patrick’s absolute favorite things.___ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________David is always beautiful, but this morning in particular he was especially breathtaking. Therealization that it was love Patrick had been feeling all this time for the man next to him had given his vision some kind of filter or tint to make everything look more beautiful. Rose-colored glasses if you will._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________Patrick watched as David’s face scrunched up, his eyes still closed._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“It’s too early,” he whines, pulling Patrick in closer to him and snuggling into the crook of his neck._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“Good morning,” Patrick whispered, allowing their position to shift so that he was on his back now with David curled in beside him._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________David grumbled something in response, before pulling away slightly to blink blearily at Patrick._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“Sorry,” he said, rubbing a hand over his eyes. “Um. How... how are you doing?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________Patrick smiled at him, he couldn’t help himself._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“Better. I feel good. Thank you, for last night.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________David smiled back at him, and Patrick felt all the breath leave his lungs at the sight._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“Of course,” David whispered._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________For a second, Patrick considered saying it to David. Telling him, letting him know just how deeply and stupidly in love with him he was. But he didn’t. It was too soon, too early. He didn’t want to scare David off. There was no way he was ever going to let this wonderful, gorgeous man out of his life. He had spent too long without him in it. So instead he just pulled him close and kissed him._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“Now,” Patrick said, teasingly, “I think I was promised something about coffee in bed today, and maybe something about baseball without any complaints?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________David rolled his eyes at him, “Okay, I think we both know that asking for no complaints is a bit unrealistic.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________Patrick smiled and leaned in for another kiss, “Well, I’ll just settle for some mild annoyance then.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“Deal. I’ll even make your coffee.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________Patrick laughed, “Oh no. I’m not letting you anywhere near the coffee maker, I still want it to work tomorrow.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________David gave him a half-hearted offended look, but Patrick wiped it right off his face as he leaned in to kiss David._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________God, he loved this man _._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> P.S. for those keeping track (as much as you can in this crazy time line), Open Mic Night was on June 22nd (per the poster that we've seen pics of) 
> 
> come say hi to me on Tumblr: oscarwildewannabe

**Author's Note:**

> Come say hi to me on Tumblr: oscarwildewannabe


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